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TOULOUSE - Daunting? Far from it, say the All Blacks at the prospect of confronting France in the quarterfinals of the rugby World Cup this weekend.
New Zealand's campaign enters a different realm at Cardiff, changing up a multitude of gears from the cruise control of pool play.
Global interest will boom for a fixture between a French side rediscovering their joie de vivre and an All Blacks outfit who have steamrolled four lightweight opponents in the manner expected of tournament favourites.
Disaster looms for one nation on Sunday morning (NZT) and the tournament will suffer as one of its premier attractions will not be seen over the final two weeks.
With the stakes so high, All Blacks assistant coach Steve Hansen was in a surprisingly chipper mood when he faced journalists at the team's hotel in a late-night press conference here.
The coaching staff had just returned from Parc de Princes in Paris where they saw Argentina beat Ireland 30-15. Before that was big screen coverage of France's 64-7 dissection of Georgia.
Those results threw up a quarterfinal that Hansen believed his players would embrace.
"It didn't matter who we got, we were going to get a good side. We've probably got one of the favourites for the tournament," he said.
"It's an exciting challenge for us, it's exactly what we need at this point of the competition.
"It's probably better to get France in Cardiff than France in Paris, it's going to be a great week."
Hansen said the All Blacks coaches had been keeping an eye on France since pool D winners Argentina upset them on the opening day of the tournament nearly a month ago, aware that les Blues were on course to finish second in the pool.
The All Blacks have beaten France in each of their last six meetings, mostly by handsome margins.
However, Hansen said the French had the sort of athletes and skill level capable of mounting a serious threat.
"On their day they can beat anybody, they've proven that time and time again," he said.
"We've been fortunate against them a few times but you only have to have a look at history.
"If you get too far ahead of yourself, you end up packing your bags and going home. We don't want to be doing that."
A quirk of fate would have it that this giant fixture will not be played out on French soil.
Hansen did not think that would affect French confidence, which had risen steadily through September since their loss to Argentina.
The 25-3 demolition of Ireland from their top lineup a week ago was particularly impressive as they returned to a more adventurous style of play.
"They're using the ball. When they play that style of game, I think they're more dangerous than when they play their kicking game," he said.
"They've got a lot of confidence out of these pool games by seeing how well they can run and pass and score tries."
One of the great mysteries heading into the match will be the level of crowd support for both teams.
A healthy chunk of New Zealanders are sure to have booked tickets on the assumption the All Blacks would top their pool but not such a high percentage of French supporters would have predicted a second-placed pool finish for their side.
It is hard to say who the typical Welsh fan will support, or whether they will even have the will to show up at Millennium Stadium.
Cardiff is a city grieving this week at the early exit of Wales, bundled out in pool play by Fiji.
- NZPA
